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Pontifications on Poison

Being some ramblings on events associated with poisonous plants.

Tuesday 1st July 2014

It’s a week now since the classification of
Catha edulis, khat, as a class ‘C’ substance under the Misuse of
Drugs Act (MDA) but I make no apology for returning to the
subject. Partly, I want to contribute to those who are trying to
keep this topic in the news. But I’m also struck by how the
story of khat mirrors many other stories.

My objection to the khat classification (I know
it would be easier to call it a khat ban but that, to me, is to
give it credit for achieving that which it cannot; the
elimination of khat chewing in the UK.) is based on two sets of
arguments – the general and the specific.

The general is that I do not believe
prohibition of any substance is an acceptable way of approaching
the potential harms from that substance. At its most simplistic,
my view is that if a substance is not harmful there is no reason
for it to be controlled and if a substance is harmful then
leaving its manufacture and supply in the hands of criminals is
an abdication of responsibility by governments. Accept that
principle and it becomes a matter of determining what is the
appropriate level of regulation for individual substances.

The specifics, as far as khat is concerned, are
about the divisive effect of the classification, the waste of
police time in enforcing the MDA for this substance and the
exploitation of a minority community for political purposes.

Since the announcement, a year ago, of the
intention to classify khat and more especially in the past week
since the classification took effect, there have been reports
and anecdotes about the effect of criminalising large numbers of
the Somali and Yemeni communities.

I’m not going to offer sources for what
follows. I recognise that they are mostly individual anecdotes
rather than an accumulation of evidence. I won’t even try and
claim validity for them on the basis that Theresa May was happy
to accept anecdote over evidence to try and justify her actions
rather than admit that she was using minorities to boost her
right-wing credentials and support her plans to stand in the
election to find David Cameron’s successor when the time comes.
But anecdotes there have been and they suggest that the fears
expressed before the classification are proving to be justified.

There are signs that inter-community relations
have suffered. I’ve seen the suggestion that it is all the fault
of the lazy Somalis and the Yemenis who have chewed khat in the
UK for many decades without causing problems say the Somalis
have brought the ban about.

I’ve read journalists who have tried to buy
khat in the past week only to find that people who were, last
week, selling khat are, today, claiming they have never heard of
it. Such journalists are adding to the problem many expected to
see. Problem khat users are less likely to seek help if they
fear it will bring them into the criminal justice system and all
users and sellers are likely to view any official from any
agency as an undercover representative of the police. May’s
claim that she had the interests of the Somali and Yemeni
communities at heart always looked bogus.

There has been the story of a former khat
chewer switching to alcohol. If the violence associated with
excess alcohol consumption replaces the quiet reflection
experienced by khat chewers the communities will suffer from
within.
There has been one example of a mafresh owner closing up with
the intention of claiming benefits so that legal khat
contributing to the exchequer via the VAT on import and the
taxes of those involved in its sale and distribution is replaced
by a drain on the benefits system.

And the political exploitation isn’t limited to
Theresa May and her band of right-wing, ill-informed Tories. One
Labour MP has told a constituent that a Labour government, after
2015, would repeal the law. No mention was made of the fact that
Labour supported the classification and that, had it opposed it
and sided with the Lib-Dems, it would never have passed through
parliament.

But, the most worrying stories, and here I can
justify the use of the plural, have been of the continued
availability of khat but at greatly inflated prices. With the
need for airfreight and speedy distribution of a bulky product,
there has never been a huge profit to be made from the legal
trade in khat. With prices reported to have already increased
four-fold, the opportunity for criminals to make money is clear.

As so, the specific joins with the general and
we’re back to asking why governments think creating and
maintaining profitable markets for criminals is good policy?

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